Panthers fade in second half

GRINNELL — The Creston basketball team traveled two hours and performed at its highest level Monday night.

For two quarters.

Despite missing two starters, the Panthers played solid defense and showed balanced scoring in taking a 14-point lead in the first half before entering the break with a 32-22 lead over a 5-2 Grinnell team. Tiger guard Ryan McIlrath, averaging 22 points a game, was limited to six points in the opening half.

At that break, Tony Davidson led Creston with eight points, Cael Turner, Parker Varner and Lucas Rushing each had six and Brayden Schoon contributed four points off the bench.

It all changed after halftime, as 6-6 center Carson Penyich led a Tiger spurt that quickly cut the gap to five. Creston clung to a 44-42 edge after three quarters before Grinnell used an 11-5 advantage in the fourth quarter to overtake the Panthers in a 53-49 victory. Over the four quarters, Creston’s scoring steadily decreased from 17 points to 15, 12 and five.

Creston, dropping to 1-4 for the season, lost its balanced scoring and stifling defense in the second half. Penyich led the Tigers with 21 points and McIlrath finished with 15 for Grinnell.

Turner paced the Panthers with 18 points and seven rebounds. Davidson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Varner added nine points on three 3-pointers.

Overall, the Panthers shot 37% from the field and had 15 turnovers, including three costly miscues in the closing minutes.

“In the first half, that’s the way we can play,” Creston coach Bryce Schafer said. “They listened to what the game plan was about the offense and did it. We were playing good defense. Grinnell didn’t change anything they were doing in the second half. It was just us getting lazy on defense and not being in position. We let them face cut to the basket, back door cut for layups. We weren’t physical at the rim on rebounds anymore.”

The offense also stagnated with just 17 points in the final 16 minutes.

Conner Wiley is out indefinitely with an elbow injury with an MRI scheduled later this week. Jake Hoyt, the team’s early-season leading scorer, sat out the Grinnell game after missing some time last week for a family event. He’s slated to return for tonight’s (Wednesday) game in Kansas City against Platte County (Missouri) at Hy-Vee Arena.

“We have to have everyone trust in their teammates that are out there,” Schafer said. “I thought Gavin Millslagle did some good things for us in filling one of those spots tonight. He gets downhill with the ball and makes good reads, and he’s an energy guy defensively. Brayden Schoon helped us off the bench. We have to keep giving each other opportunities and not rely on one or two guys to do all of the scoring.”

Tommy Sand also provided depth on the perimeter and had a steal Monday. Rushing had three steals and six points.

“We’re doing some good things at times, but this group just lacks consistency right now,” Schafer said. “We’ll get there.”

GRINNELL (53) — Totals (FG FT PTS) — 22 8-12 53. Carson Penyich 9 3-3 21, Ryan McIlrath 7 0-2 15, Cole Blackford 3 2-3 9, Jack Hoopes 1 2-3 4, Trenton Scheck 1 0-0 2, Derek Doty 1 0-0 2, Kegan Hobbs 0 1-1 1. 3-point goals — 2 (Blackford 1, McIlrath 1). Team fouls — 10. Fouled out — None.

CRESTON (49) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 20 3-5 49. Cael Turner 7-18 2-3 18, Tony Davidson 5-11 0-0 10, Parker Varner 3-12 0-0 9, Lucas Rushing 2-6 1-2 6, Brayden Schoon 2 0-0 4, Gavin Millslagle 1-4 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 6-20 (Varner 3, Turner 2, Rushing 1). FG shooting — 20-53 (37.7 percent). Rebounds — 25 (Davidson 8, Turner 7, Varner 4). Assists — 5 (Davidson 2). Steals — 9 (Rushing 3, Varner 2, Turner 2). Turnovers — 15. Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — None.